Running a business is challenging, especially for small businesses.

Because of this, business owners must quickly adapt to the latest shifts in work trends to find new ways to reduce costs and increase productivity.

Many small businesses have recognized the value of outsourcing and how it can help significantly reduce hiring costs without sacrificing the quality of work. For example, small businesses can save up to $60,000 annually by outsourcing tasks like bookkeeping by eliminating ongoing costs like office space and additional expenses.

Most importantly, remote accounting services provide accurate financial records that your business can rely on to make important financial decisions.

The best virtual accounting services are reasonably priced, have qualified staff, and provide quick access to various accounting services in the industry. In addition, they offer all the regular services you would expect from an accountant like managing payroll, filing taxes and improving operations.

Who is a Virtual Accounting Assistant?

With the help of a virtual accounting assistant, you will receive excellent 24/7 support, your accounting will look better and you will become more efficient.

In addition, they help with payments, invoicing, preparing financial statements, managing payslips, tax preparation, calendar management, payment scheduling, year-end reports, and monitoring additional payments due.

A good virtual accounting assistant can proficiently use accounting programs like Freshbooks and Quickbooks. They also possess strong time management skills to maintain the accuracy of the organization’s records.

Read our blog – 9 Benefits of Hiring a Virtual Accounting Assistant to learn more about how virtual assistance can help small businesses grow.

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Tasks you can outsource to a virtual accounting assistant

Virtual accounting services are similar to traditional accounting services. The only difference is that they work from home instead of in the office. Modern technology allows us to securely share files and documents and even manage accounting tasks remotely. Some of the tasks you can outsource to a virtual accountant include:

• Pay bills on time
• preparation of balance sheets
• Reconcile bank statements
• to draw up the invoices
• Creation of ledgers
• maintenance of financial data
• Manage accounts payable and receivables
• tax returns and more.

For a more detailed list of tasks you can outsource, check out our blog – 14 Accounting Tasks A Virtual Assistant For Entrepreneurs Can Do.

To get you started, we’ve compiled a list of the top five virtual accounting services you can use for your business.

5 Top Virtual Accounting Services

Wish

Wishup is a virtual assistant agency that provides virtual assistants for administrative tasks, software testing, accounting and also developers. Wishup hires and trains the top 1% of candidates so you can be confident you’re getting the best talent in the industry.

Your virtual accounting assistants are trained in the latest software such as QuickBooks and FreshBooks. They can assist you with various bookkeeping and bookkeeping tasks such as payroll, tax preparation, invoicing and year-end closing.

Before being paired with a virtual accountant, Wishup arranges a free consultation to better understand your needs. After subscription, you will be assigned a Customer Success Manager to oversee your projects. Additionally, if your primary virtual accounting assistant is unavailable due to an emergency, it provides an instant backup so your work is not disrupted.

It is one of the agencies that offers a no-questions-asked refund if you are not satisfied with the services of the accountant assigned to you.

Services we offer – Invoicing, data entry, tax preparation, payroll and financial statements.

pricing: From $9/hour.

Accountant 360

Bookkeeper 360 is based in the United States and provides end-to-end accounting services for small businesses. They have many add-ons in their packages and you can customize them to suit your needs. They have weekly and monthly reconciliation packages, and their prices are based on whether you use cash or accrual accounting in your business.

They integrate with Expensify and Shopify, making it easier for small ecommerce businesses. They also have reliable customer service via online chat, call, email and text.

services they provide – Human resources and payroll administration, category tracking, inventory management, tax preparation and back office tasks.

pricing: Starts at $499 for weekly cash accounting and $699 weekly for accrual accounting.

To back up

Belay is a virtual assistance agency and one of the services they offer their clients is bookkeeping. They test and train their assistants and adapt them to their clients. They work on a subscription basis and have monthly rental packages. This is beneficial for companies with cyclical needs and unpredictable business patterns.

To hire an accounting assistant, you need to make a phone call to their account team and explain your needs and requirements. The team will provide you with a virtual assistant whose skills match your needs. There’s also a full-time customer success consultant who oversees the contract and makes sure no mishaps happen. Of course, you can always contact your account manager if there is a problem or you are dissatisfied with your service.

You can customize your plan based on your needs. However, it is important to note that they do not offer tax filing services.

services they provide – Journal entries, e-commerce support, bank reconciliations.

pricing: Packages start at $450 monthly.

streamline accounting

Streamline Bookkeeping specializes in providing virtual bookkeeping support and its primary client base includes professional services firms and small businesses. They also cater to individual professionals such as doctors, realtors, architects and more.

Like most of the other service providers on this list, you will receive a preliminary consultation to better understand your needs. This call also includes a customized client checklist that you can use to indicate how your accounts are typically reconciled.

They also offer monthly meetings to review and discuss your financial reports. This meeting can take place via telephone or video conference, depending on your preference.

The majority of their clients are small business owners and their workforce does not exceed 15-20 employees. So this might not be the best service for you if you are a large company or a fast growing business.

services they provide – Maintaining ledgers, preparing income statements, reconciliations, balance sheets, 1099 filing, W-9 management.

pricing: Starting at $199 for a package of up to 60 monthly transactions.

Bank

Bench is a virtual accounting service for small businesses and sole traders. This is because they offer affordable services and their platform is accessible and easy to use, even for people with no experience working with virtual accountants.

They have many integration options and even provide concise visual reports to help you understand areas where you can improve and become more efficient and profitable. Additionally, they have a 24/7 support team that you can communicate with via chat or email.

Your regular plan includes cash accounting but no accrual accounting. That’s only included in their premium plan. One of their premium features is a mobile app that lets you track and review your work on the go.

services they provide – Monthly closing, historical accounting services (organizing past accounts), financial records and personal assistance.

pricing: Essential plan starts at $299/month.

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Why do small businesses need virtual assistants?

Very often, small business owners take on the responsibility of running their business and managing everything themselves. This is due to various factors such as

• lack of finances
• too little office space/home business,
• No qualified staff to be found.

However, this is not sustainable in the long term.

First, bookkeeping is time-consuming and requires precision. As a result, accounting leaves little time for you to focus on business growth and strategy.

Second, accounting is a technical skill that takes years to master. And while you may have plenty of entrepreneurial experience, running your bookkeeping is beyond your skills unless you’ve studied accounting professionally. At the end of the day, it’s up to you; If you want it to grow, you need to hire an expert to help you manage your accounting efficiently.

When it comes to the money, as we discussed earlier, a virtual accountant is significantly cheaper than a full-time employee. For example, an in-house accountant will cost you nearly $50,000 per year, while a Wishup virtual accountant would only cost you $20,000 per year. Add to that the money you save on office space and equipment. As a result, working with a virtual accountant can save you up to $70,000 a year that you can invest in growing your business.

Focus on business growth and leave the finances to us

A virtual accounting assistant can provide support, expertise and sound advice on how to better manage your business finances. Each company on this list has something of value to offer, depending on your needs.

If you are looking for a reliable, experienced, and highly qualified accountant for your small business, click here to schedule your free consultation with Wishup today, or email us [email protected].